Navigating NYC’s buses is tough. How can we improve the experience?
Navigating New York City’s bus system can be a daunting experience.
I don’t mean this in terms of safety or comfort. Rather, I’m talking about the general navigability of the bus system, which leaves much to be desired. A recent report by The Transit Center sums up the issue:
“Many New Yorkers who use public transit every day have very little knowledge of the bus network. Even bus riders hesitate to travel on routes they are not familiar with.”
(http://transitcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Turnaround_Fixing-NYCs-Buses-20July2016.pdf)
Hopping buses in new neighborhoods is not for the faint of heart; figuring out when the bus is closest to your stop isn’t a straightforward task and requires far more attentiveness than a comparable ride by subway. This is even truer at night, when it’s difficult to determine a bus’ whereabouts by just looking out the window. Personally, I keep Google Maps open on my phone to track my trip’s progress even on bus routes that traverse neighborhoods I’m familiar with and have lived in.
This experience is in direct contrast with the improvements made across the subway system, where new maps, digital displays and announcements now pepper (and are nearly ubiquitous across) trains and stations. Buses have not received comparable attention or efforts to ease their navigability, in spite of being an equally complex system.
New digital displays at a growing number of stations in the city’s subways announce when to expect trains in real time. These same kiosks allow riders to enter their destination and receive directions to it, including when to transfer, and which lines and stations to avoid because of planned construction. Inside subway cars, digital displays show upcoming stops and transfers available at each stop.
At bus stations and inside the buses themselves, however, few such innovations have been implemented. Small paper maps are the only navigational assistance provided to riders. Beyond announcements by bus drivers, which in my experience are inconsistent if they’re made at all, there is little to nothing indicating where transfers to other buses or the subway are available. There most certainly isn’t information available to riders on where buses might run into traffic or construction.
Falling ridership numbers for New York City buses may very well reflect a simple point: New Yorkers are more comfortable and familiar with their subway system. The MTA would do well to make navigating buses easier, starting with some of the very same methods it has successfully employed across the subway system.
